In industrial, mechanized nailing, e.g. the nailing together of pallets with the aid of more or less automated nailing machines or nailing devices, the nails must be supplied to the fastening mechanism of the machine or device from a magazine or be supplied in the form of a feed band to enable the nailing to be effected at the desired high speed and without the risk of break-down or other work stoppage.
The most reliable method of continuously supplying nails to the nailing machine has proven to be loading the machine with strip nails either in the form of separate nails fixed onto/in a belt or linked sheet nails formed in a sheet-metal strip, which are separated one at a time in the machine from the rest of the strip or belt and are driven into the pieces to be nailed together.
The technique of using still interconnected sheet nails which are rolled or stamped for example in a sheet-metal strip is clearly superior to using nails fixed onto/in a belt since loading the belt with the individual nails is expensive and presents the problem of disposing of waste in the form of empty belts after nailing.
It is true that known types of sheet nails in strips have been able to be manufactured at relatively low cost, but their performance as fasteners has not been satisfactory in all respects.
The strength of these sheet nails has for example often been unsatisfactory, especially in the transition portion between the nail shank and the flat (smooth) head. Furthermore, the known sheet nails in many cases do not provide the desired straight penetration by the nail shank when the nail is driven in. It is also a well known fact that the risk of cracking is relatively great for these known types of sheet nails. The primary purpose of the invention is therefore to achieve a new improved type of sheet nails in strips, which have better strength properties than known sheet nails and also enable the nail to be driven in straight. An additional purpose is to achieve a sheet nail which provides substantially less risk of cracking and splitting during nailing than for previously known sheet nails.